"Distribution is the Key": Transnational Networks of Audiopoetry in the Postwar Era

Abstract

This essay carves out a transnational network of postwar audio publishers invested in the idea to distribute spoken poetry and performed art via LPs and cassettes. To exemplify the strategies and practices of labels, it presents a case study of the German S Press Tonbandverlag and its correspondence with the audio magazines Black Box (Washington D.C.) and Audio Arts (London, UK). Thereby, it delves into the history of the midcentury audio scene whose meanings and significance for literary history has so far received relatively little attention within the field of literary studies.